Lex Eat! supper club

Last night I went to the opening night of the Lex Eat! supper club in part of a converted school ’somewhere in the back streets of Islington’. The place was so stylish it could have been a boutique hotel. The top floor bathroom was immaculate, in a way that made me want to jump into the bath and stay there. There were colourful, neatly rolled towels, jars of liquorice allsorts and buttons by the sink and designer shoes on display on the shelves outside.

Mei and I were seated at a long table with a whole host of interesting people from a variety of countries. There were a couple of other smaller tables too and couple of foodbloggers I recognised – Magnus and Beth.

The attention to detail was stunning, with each napkin made of a different material, bottles of tapwater and bowls of buttery, chilli popcorn to nibble on. The table was not so much clothed as wrapped in brown parcel paper and had the menu and little notes written all over it, encouraging us to interact with our neighbours to find out what we’d be eating.

We started with a dish I recognised from Ashburton cookery school: homemade tortelli filled with goats cheese and orange pepper, with a fresh pesto sauce and topped with a deep fried basil leaf. This was followed by lamb loin with creamy dauphinoise potatoes, crunchy green beans, mushrooms and a heavenly madeira sauce. We were also served with an amuse-bouche of lemongrass and coconut sorbet served in a spoon.

A trio of desserts was brought out with a flourish and plenty of ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhhhs’ from fellow diners. The Turkish delight cheesecake was a recipe from Marcus Wareing’s new book Nutmeg & Custard, but Lex had put her own twist on it, creating a topping of pomegranate floss from her local Turkish grocer. It was so good I nearly fell off my chair.

We were served with pink bubbly to start and Australian muscat plus coffee or tea to finish. All in all, a truly satisfying meal in stylish surroundings, hosted with real care and attention. Looking forward to your Banjo Patterson night ladies!